Nigeria’s socio-political and economic environment presents significant challenges for women’s rights and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and more (LGBTQI+) rights. For example, the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013 criminalises same-sex relationships (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 2013), with penalties up to 14 years in prison in the southern regions and the death penalty under Sharia law in the north. Women also face discriminatory practices, such as in the northern Kano state, where civil service rules penalise women for pregnancy-related training interruptions.
In March 2022, the National Assembly rejected five gender bills that sought to enhance women’s representation in politics by creating reserved seats and mandating significant female representation in political appointments (Omotoso 2023). This setback reflects ongoing challenges in achieving gender equality in Nigeria. Expressions of homosexuality/same-sex sexual activity are criminalised in Nigeria.
For this brief, a total of 16 organisations, individuals, and smaller groups were analysed, providing a comprehensive perspective on efforts to counter rollback.
Landscape of anti-rollback actors
The landscape of women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights organisations in Nigeria is dynamic and characterised by diverse strategies, scales, and collaborations aimed at countering societal and legal setbacks (Tamale 2011). These organisations, ranging from individual activists to formalised non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (Yusuf 2023), often depend on international funding due to local advocacy challenges.
Organisations such as the Women’s Health and Equal Rights (WHER) Initiative and The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs) operate at national and sub-national levels. They receive substantial support from international donors, enabling them to support local organisations through sub-grants, capacity building, and technical assistance. For instance, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), funded by entities including the Ford Foundation and UK Aid, supports grass-roots groups and offers training programmes in partnership with entities such as the Nigeria Governors Spouses’ Forum on protocols and best practices for handling issues related to sexual and gender-based violence (GBV).
Historically, Nigerian rights organisations have formed coalitions to strengthen their advocacy efforts. An example is the coalition behind the push for the passage of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP) in 2015, which saw various women’s rights groups collaborating to lobby for legislative change prohibiting all forms of violence against persons and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders; and for related matters. One such example of a coalition is the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Coalition on Women, Peace and Security. Formed in 2017, CEDAW has eight registered Nigerian organisations to advance women’s rights advocacy. Such coalitions are crucial in pooling resources and expertise to tackle extensive issues such as legal reform and public policy. For example, CEDAW reviewed Nigeria’s implementation record under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and prepared shadow reports that assessed the government’s compliance with CEDAW commitments. These reports provided an alternative perspective to official reports, highlighting gaps and recommending actionable steps to improve women’s rights protections (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) 2017). Similarly, in November 2023, the WARDC coalition, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Palladium, launched online and offline campaigns to renew calls for the reintroduction of the five gender bills rejected by the ninth National Assembly (Abeku 2023).
Counter-rollback strategies
The ongoing struggle for women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights in Nigeria showcases the resilience and creativity of local and national organisations. Given the socio-political and economic constraints within which they operate, their strategies need to be multifaceted, aiming not only to resist immediate threats but also to build long-term resilience and acceptance within society (Tamale 2011). These movements address critical issues, including GBV, women’s public participation, and LGBTQI+ rights, with interventions often spanning civic spaces and media. Notable episodic events such as the kidnap of more than 200 girls from their school in northern Nigeria and the consequent campaign to #BringBackOurGirls highlight the activism surrounding these issues. The domains of these organisations’ interventions often span civic space and media, utilising both to shape public discourse and influence policy.
For women’s rights, the primary aim of these strategies is to protect existing rights from being further eroded, while advancing new rights where possible. However, the primary aim of LGBTQI+ strategies is geared towards legalising LGBTQI+ identities and concerns. Therefore, the strategies span legal, social, and political domains, aiming to create a more inclusive and equitable society.
To counter rollback, these organisations deploy a mix of discursive, practical, legislative, and ameliorative strategies. They engage in public education campaigns, direct community engagement, and legal challenges against restrictive laws. They also provide support services to affected individuals.
The passage of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act in 2015 is a testament to the effectiveness of these advocacy efforts, although its implementation varies across states. Continuous advocacy is crucial to address these legislative and societal challenges comprehensively.
Although efforts of individual actors (including Bisi Alimi, Matthew Blaise, and Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim) have been highlighted in advocacy efforts geared towards LGBTQI+ rights (and likewise Aisha Yesufu and Oby Ezekwesili for women’s rights) (Nwangwu 2022; Nnam, Arua and Otu 2018), the specific impacts of individual advocacy cannot be measured due to lack of results/reporting and documentation.
International support and global advocacy networks have played crucial roles in supporting local counter-rollback efforts. For example, several international organisations such as the British Council Nigeria, Gilead, Fujitsu, UNHCR, the Oak Foundation, Give Out, and Stonewall support women’s rights advocacy groups and campaigns. These international organisations largely provide financial support to grass-roots mobilisers.
Gaps and areas for future research/work
Significant gaps remain in understanding the full impact of the work of these organisations, particularly in rural and less accessible regions. The secretive nature of funding and the informal status of many community members involved in these movements make it challenging to assess their full reach and impact. Addressing these gaps would require more transparent reporting, comprehensive impact assessments, and increased local support for rights advocacy.
Credits
This Country Brief was written by Siju Yusuf. It was supported by the project Rapid Scoping Review – The Nature of Feminist and LGBT+ Movements in a Range of Selected Countries, funded by UK International Development from the UK government. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of IDS or the UK government’s official policies.
First published April 2025.
Suggested citation: Yusuf, S. (2025) ‘Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Nigeria’, Countering Rollback Country Brief, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/IDS.2025.030
© Institute of Development Studies 2025.
This is an Open Access brief distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited and any modifications or adaptations are indicated.
